A new anti-EU league is in the works. In a meeting in Warsaw on 9 January, Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party chief Jaroslaw Kaczynski will meet to discuss “special relations”, which could be a major force in the next European Parliament.

In a radio interview with station RMF on Saturday, Jacek Czaputowicz, Poland’s foreign minister, said:

“It’s a meeting at the highest level. If [party]president Kaczynski meets another politician, it’s a sign of a certain special relationship, which is how we are treating it”. He added, “We have to discuss matters related to the European Parliament”.

It remains unclear what the meeting will deliver but that Salvini and Kaczynski will “exchange ideas … on how the European Union should function”.

“The message [of Wednesday’s meeting]is: the Polish government is shifting its position to the anti-European fringe,” Civic Platform MP Slawomir Nitras said.

“It [the Polish government]is not just sceptical [of the EU], it’s joining up with forces who are thinking of how to dismantle the European Union,” he added.

Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, former Polish prime minister who left PiS says: “If he [Salvini] … persuades Law and Justice to join, it will be one of the largest groups in the next European Parliament”.

Presently, Salvini has already spoken to French and Dutch right-wing parties, France’s National Rally and the Netherland’s Party for Freedom, convincing them to join.

If PiS and Austria’s right-wing Freedom Party join, that could mean 140 MEPs making it the third largest in the European Parliament.

There is speculation that Salvini could call for a snap election in Italy and become the Prime Minister. His party has surged to incredible heights in opinion polls. This along with PiS, if they win their elections this year, which is expected, the new group would have two leaders of two of the EU’s G6.